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This video, most likely made by college students, is a very simple approach to postmodernism. Within the video concepts such as universal conflicts are brought up and then somewhat explained. This video is somewhat difficult to follow but that is part of what makes it so appropriate to represent the post modern era. This video is a satire, it is fragmented, ironic and the concepts are farsical. It simplifies the idea of postmodernity and shows what it means to be postmodern.

An article that examines the conceot of postmodernism as a time period that follows modernity and challenges its ideas, using argument and examples. Author is a professor at Emory University. Short Bibliograpphy.

Nagrant, M. (2006, October 3). Reflections in the Pond Back to "basics" with Bruce Sherman . Newcity Chicago. Retrieved from http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/5773.html A writer for Newcity Chicago discussed how postmodernity has changed the way food is made and presented in up-scale restaurants. He does not see the change as good by any means. He writes, "some of today's restaurant food feels a lot closer to industrial chewing gum than the farm." His belief is that the combination of postmodernism and culinary technique is threatening the association between food and comfort. The author makes his point in a sort of roundabout and slightly confusing way. However, what he is trying to say is that postmodernism and all of its fragmentation, conflicting identities and loss of order and control is destroying food. He explains that chefs are going the postmodern route and pairing things together that don't belong. This loss of control and rampant experimentation, where function (or taste) is not so much a concern, makes food lose its comfort factor. The wild and crazy experiments inherent in postmodern architecture and art do not create very good results in the kitchen.

Steven Best and Douglas Kellner provide a concise explanation of just what postmodernity is in the introduction of their book. This section, appropriately titled, "Between the Modern and the Postmodern," explains how our culture has transitioned between the two. Cultural definitions, structures, and ideals are being transformed in all aspects of life. These changes are due largely in part to the growth of technology and the way it is presented and used. "Bombardment" and "fragmentation" are two poignant and descriptive words that accurately summarize how postmodern society experiences day-to-day life. The title of the book also clues the reader in to the authors' opinion of postmodernity. It is an adventure. One that has many more advancements ahead of it.

"The Po-Mo Page: Postmodern, Postmodernism, Postmodernity" provides a concise yet substantive introduction to postmodernity, differentiating between the historical condition and the intentional movement in arts, culture, philosophy and politics. Quoting some major theorists (e.g., Lyotard, Jameson, Benjamin), the author illustrates how the term "postmodern" has been used in various fields (history, economics, politics, art) with particular attention to uses made by Frederic Jameson. Most helpful is the table of "contrasting tendencies" which, while admittedly a very modernist approach, identifies two dozen ways in which postmodernity seems to have features that oppose or contradict tendencies that have been recognized as hallmarks of modernity. Created by Martin Irvine, the Founding Director and Associate Professor of the Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University, the visually appealing webpage has no links to other sources, but is one link among several grouped on his faculty webpage under the heading of Media Theory.

This is an article which defines seven different characteristics of postmodernity. The wording helps readers to be able to understand and not become frustrated, as postmodernity is a large and sometimes confusing topic. The characteristics are on a general basis not necessarily individual yet still capture the large, important, and most obvious components to this period of time that we are currently living in and trying to understand. The article also notes that many readers will only relate to some of the characteristics and not all and that is okay, making the article an even easier read knowing there is room for disagreement or change.

There is a new show out this fall on abc called Modern Family. However, it should more correctly be called "Postmodern Family". The show is a sitcom that plays out as if it is a documentary about this family consisting of an older father and his very young second wife and her son, and then the older father's two children's families: one being a women and her pretty normal nuclear family, and the other being a homosexual son, his partner and their new adopted baby girl from Asia. Although it claims to be "modern", this family structure is more post modern because it does not match the typical equation "mom+dad=kids". Although the depiction of step parents and families has been on TV since the Brady Bunch, homosexuals (especially ones with children) are a relatively new occurrence on prime time. In the modern era, the nuclear family and heterosexual norms are predominate and more socially acceptable; postmodernity makes room for and accepts these new forms of families. Perhaps the abc network called it "Modern Family" because to the general public the word modern is usually associated with "new" and unique, (which the family structure portrayed on the show is) and were afraid that the title "Postmodern Family" would be to intimidating to potential viewers.

The article discusses how globalization is a word widely used today but it is used in SO many different contexts that it is hard to grasp a real meaning. The terms existence seems to mean "suggests that it is part of a reconfiguring and rethinking of contemporary social theory and politics that is caught up in some of the central debates and conflicts of the present age". This is how it directly relates to postmodernity because there is a definite change occurring in this era from the modern era. The site is a bit lengthy but it contains a huge amount of information and looks at both globalization and postmodernity from a few different perspectives to attempt to gain a full and working understanding of both terms. Globalization itself does seem to be postmodern and the article discusses why, giving both a better definition.

The above exert gives an interesting theory on how the postmodern era and economy are parallel to that of the Middle Ages. One of the points made is the lack of authority and control. "The Middle Ages lacked the singular relationship between authority and territory characteristic of the modern era; geographic location did not determine identity and loyalty (Hirst and Thompson, 1995; Spruyt, 1994) . Overlapping and competing political authorities were the norm rather than the exception (Kobrin 12)." This is similar to the current economy existing on the internet. It is possible to buy basically anything from dvds to drugs on the internet and the government has no way of controlling it. In modern times, the only way to buy something was from a store. Now with the world wide web, it is possible to buy everything on the internet, even weekly groceries or a couch from India. The exert also discusses the idea of how "the clear separation between the private and public realms and the very idea of distinct private and public property may be tied to a specific, perhaps exceptional, historical era. The distinction was not relevant in pre-modern times and it may not be relevant in the postmodern future (Kobrin 25)." I think this applies well to global digital postmodernism if you consider the pictures on the web and all the information available to the masses.

What is more postmodern than being updated on multiple people's lives in a matter of seconds. Twitter is a site that allows just that. Users are allowed to share what they are doing with their lives in 160 characters or less. The posts are instant and gives people the possibility and knowing a person's every move. This site depicts how communication and the value of privacy have changed within the postmodern era. As a postmodern concept, face to face communication is obsolete. Why talk to someone to find them when their Twitter gives second by second updates of their entire day? More importantly why is this person posting this information and why do so many people follow them to discover what the posts will say? These are questions that do not need to be answered in a postmodern society because they are the norm.

In the beginning of this article, the author gives a little background as to how postmodernism has emerged, she feels, starting in the 1980's. She thinks that the very general term of Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. She feels that there cannot be just one definition to the term "postmodernism", and that there needs to be separate definitions for each discipline. Next, she tells you that she thinks the easiest way of trying to think about postmodernism, and what it really is, is by simply thinking of it as coming after modernism. After that, she tells you some of the basic characteristics of postmodernism, specifically as applied to literature, and makes it relatively easy to understand.

This website was created by students at the University of Alabama. It has basic definitions of the concept, examples, criticisms and comparisons with modernity. The chart that compares postmodernity and modernity is very lucid. Extensive bibliography.

"Gattaca" (1997) is a movie that, to me, exemplifies several postmodern features. The link is to the Wikipedia page about the movie and gives a detailed synopsis. The movie deals with the idea of genetic engineering. In "a not-too-distant future" all discrimination upon race, gender and religion will be forgotten, and thanks to scientific advances, people will only be judged upon their genes. This is a postmodern idea that depicts the importance of surface appearance, and not depth and meaning. In the movie, the main character goes for an interview, which surprisingly to him consisted only of a simple blood test. The company did not care about his personality or goals or past education like a normal interview, only about his genes and any risks of diseases. Since race is no longer an issue, "Gattaca" also contains the postmodern characteristic of disunity of nationalities and ethnicity. Instead, the only thing that decides who you associate with, work with, and even marry, are your genes and weather or not you were genetically engineered (which is more valued).

This "fail" video also displays characteristics of postmodernity. Most fail videos are of people falling down or hurting themselves, but this one shows a very private moment between a son and mother "discussing" god. Just as the video reaches a high point of intensity, and you think the mother is going to really get angry and maybe violent, the maker of the movie cuts away to a cat playing a peppy piano tune. This is very ironic and, as the Modern and Postmodern: Contrasting Tendencies chart would call it, a direct challenge "to official seriousness", or the discussion of "is there a god?". It could also be postmodern because the mother plays right into the idea of surface value over depth: she thinks telling her son that he can't get Christmas presents will some how change his mind. If you look below at the comments, this one video spurred a discussion between (one must assume) strangers who only know each other by there screen-names, but are having a calm discussion about religion themselves, compared to the heated discussion in the video.

The site is a postmodern form of communication. It charges nothing to use and its content is primarily user-generated. The site combines the best of e-mail, social networking, Instant Mesaging, video sharing etc. It is for the masses and largely controlled by the masses.

Excerpt from a longer work that defines postmodenity in the context of social change, written by David Harvey, a professor of geograpthy and social theory. Includes examples, an explanation of his argument, defintions, etc and a bibiolographty

This article is written by an English professor with the intent of simplifying the definition and components of post modernity. While defining post modernity can be difficult since it is quite an ambiguous term, the author comes up with a list (which isn't necessarily postmodern) to show the differences between modernity and post modernity to break down both the confusion and complexity of it. He claims that the very fact that defining post modernity is such a difficult task helps make it post modern in of itself. The author further discusses post modernity and applies it to specific areas like human nature and art.

Being skeptic of the supernatural, i.e. God, is considered a Modern aspect. Taking that a step further, Postmoderns are "skeptical of any and all claims to an authoritative comprehensive worldview, absolute truth about reality, and an overarching purpose to the human story." They're basically saying that they dismiss too much structure. The Church, as an institution, would be far too structured, on top of the idea of a supernatural God. There are too many pieces of life that are connected, even controlled by the presence of a religious establishment. The theory of how we were created, for what purpose, how we should lead our lives, and what happens to us at the end of our lives would be too much for a postmodern thinker "In short, it could be said that religious metanarratives were dismissed by modernism. Man-made ones are dismissed by postmodernism." Therefore it is easy to see, via this article, that without Modernism, we would have no Post Modernism. Though this seems basic enough, and simple to understand, one must realize that in order to determine what is Post Modern, one must always consider if it is Modern first. This is a very hard thing for people to grasp, but this article does make it a little clearer to understand, and does lay things out to make it a little easier. This article also goes about trying to determine where Modernism began and ended, and where Post Modernism did the same.

In his essay, Michael Taflove discusses the idea of basic reality versus hyperreality. He explains simulation theory and tells how it has broken into the postmodern era. Taflove shows the internet as the most postmodern form of hyperreality. The internet allows people to live as whomever they would like to be in a world separate from reality. It is almost to a point where people do not know who they are in the real world. The idea that someone can live in a completely virtual reality is certainly a postmodern concept. Taflove uses the Matrix as an example of how it is becoming more difficult to discover what is true reality and whether anyone exists within the idea of what this true reality is.